Ring-grinding machine



Jul 22, 1924. 1,502,099

. G. H. HlGGlNS RING GRINDING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1 1921 2 snags-Sheet 1July .22. 1924,

G. H. HIGGINS RING GRINDING momma Fil ed F 13; 1. 1921 2 sheets-sheet, 2

Patented July .22, 19.24.

GEORGE H. HIGGINS, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR- TO BURD HIGH.OOMPRES- SION RING COMPANY, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

RING-GRINDING MACHINE.

Application filed February 1, 1921. Serial No. 441,616.

To all whom it may ooncem:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rockford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ring-GrindingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertaining in general to grinding machines, has moreparticular ref erence to a special purpose machine designed for roughgrinding the peripheries of cast iron piston rings. After these ringscome from the foundry they are slightly over pat tern diameter due torapping and they also have peripheral irregularities in the form oflumps, slightly raised edges or fins, blemishes, sand grains and draft;all of which are termed in shop practice, .makeage.

It is desired to remove this makeage, not

in the sense of making an initial stockremoving cut, but simply as acleaningoperation of from .001 to .002.

One of the chiefobjects of my invention, is the provision of novel meansfor removing the makeage from piston rings, and to do this mostexpeditiously and with uniform results.

My invention, also, contemplates the provision of novel apparatusdesigned for grinding the periphery of any ring-like object, and is inno way limited to the grinding of piston rings. In the particularapplication of my invention first above referred to, I prefer to employa power driven device for revolving a ring and which is manuallyoperable to grip and release the ring and to move it into and out ofcontact with the grinding wheel. In this regard, an object of theinvention is to grip the ring by clownward movement of the device,wherebythe revolving ring which rests on a table can be moved thereoninto and out of contact with the grinding wheel, and to release the ringby raising the device. Thus, in the feed of the ring to the grindingwheel, the human touch is very desirable-and efiective in holding thering against the wheel with just sufiicient pressure to insure removalof all irregularities and nottoo much stock; Also a great saving in timeis effected by. the quick grip and release of the rings which ispractically automatic as the operator moves the device from one positionto another.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciated by thosefamiliar with this art as the invention becomes better understood byreference tothe following de scription when considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation ofa grinding machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a top view taken substantially on the section line 22 of Fig. 1and Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, show enlarged longitudinal sectional viewstaken substantially on the line 33, 44, 55, 66 and 7-7, respectively, ofFig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 have provided asuitable horizontal table 7 and a grinding wheel 8 arranged injuxtaposition, with the end face 9 of the wheel in close proximity tothe table. The grinding wheel maybe continuously driven in acounter-clockwise direction viewing Fig. 1, by any suitable means, as abelt 11. The rings to be ground enter upon the table from the chute 12and are discharged from the opposite side, down the chute 13.

The power driven device above referred to for holding and rotating eachring during the grinding operation, is in the present example,constructed as follows. driving member 14 located substantially abovethe table is connected'fby means of a universal joint 15 to a sectionaldriven member in the form of a sleeve 16 and a shaft 17 in telescopingrelation. This shaft, in driving connection with the sleeve throughmeans of a pin 18, is axially movable in the sleeve, the ends of the pinsliding in the longitudinal slots 19. A spring 21 normally holds theshaft 17 in an elevated position. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the shaft17 is equipped at its lower end with a fixed but removable bracket 22,to which-a plurality of radial elementor arms 28 are pivotally connectedat 24 on horizontal axes. These arms 23 revolve with the shaft and havecapacity for independent vertical swinging movement. I

Suitable means may be provided for lowering and raising the shaft 17 andfor moving it relatively to the grinding wheel for causing the arms 23to automatically grip and release a ring and to move the revolving ringinto and out of contact with the grinding wheel. This means, atpresentmanually operable, comprises a pair of handles 25 rigidlyattached by means of a bracket. 26

A rotary to a sleeve 27 loose on the shaft 17 but held againstlengthwise movement thereon. When the handles 25 are raised, the outerends of the arms 23 will gravitate to an inner position, and when thearms are lowered into a ring positioned on the table 7 the will beexpanded by contact with the tabl e, and by downward pressure on thehandles will be forced outwardly so as to clamp the internal face of thering in an expanding action. The arms are of such length and their endsso shaped as to have flat contact with the inner periphery of the ring,thereby enabling a most positive driving connection therewith. For ringsof different diameter, the bracket 22 may be removed and another havingarms of proper length substituted therefor.

In operation, assuming the grinding wheel and shaft 1% to be driven, theoperator, by downward pressure on the handles 25, lowers and directs thedriving arms 23 into a ring positioned on the table. Continued downwardpressure clamps the ring as described above, thereby revolving it withthe shaft 17. The operator now moves the handles forwardly, maintainingthe downward pressure, thereby moving the revolving ring into peripheralcontact with the end face 9 of the grinding wheel. It will be observedthat the ring rests on the table while being revolved, and that theoperator may move the peripheral face of the ring into contact with thegrinding wheel with just sufficient pressure to. insure removal of themakeage, described above. By this method the operator feels the pressurerequired and duration of the feed for removal of all irregularities,which obviously vary considerably in different rings. Having finishedthe grinding operation, the operator withdraws the ring from the wheeland swings the rotating device radially to the right to discharge thering down the chute 13, the ring being released by raising the handles.The peripheries of the rings having been uniformly cleaned withoutremoval of any of the stock proper except for the draft and fine scale,they are ready for the next machine operation.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of theobjects, and that while I have illustrated the invention as particularlyapplicable to the grinding of piston rings, it will be obvious that itis equally well adapted for grinding other annular objects. It will bemanifest also that various changes might be made in the construction andoperation without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas expressed in the appended claims, in

which:

I claim:

1. The. combination with a grinding wheel and a table upon which a ringis adapted to rest and be moved into and out of peripheral contact withthe grinding wheel, of a device for internally gripping a ring on saidtable, said device being driven from overhead for revolving the ring andhaving a handle above the ring adapted to be manipulated for freelymoving the ring on the table and for bringing saiddevice into and out ofoperative relation to the ring.

2. The combination of a grinding wheel and a work table injuxtaposition, a power driven device including gripping elements adaptedby contact against and movement in opposition to said table tointernally grip and drive a work-piece on said table, and means formoving said device to bring the work-piece intoand out of contact withthe grinding wheel.

3. The combination of a grinding wheel and a Work-supporting table injuxtaposition, a power-driven device including gripping elements adaptedby contact against and movement in opposition to the table to beexpanded by such action for automatically gripping and driving awork-piece supported on the table, and means for operating saidpower-driven device for gripping the work-piece and moving it onto thetable into and out of contact with the grinding wheel.

4. The combination with a grinding wheel and a table on which a ring isadapted to be supported and to be moved into and out of peripheralcontact with the grinding wheel, of a power driven device includingexpansible elements for internally gripping a ring, said device beingpivotally suspended and movable vertically for bringing said elementsinto and out of contact with the table for gripping and releasing aring, and horizontally for moving the ring into and out of contact withthe grinding wheel.

5. The combination with a work-supporting table and a grinding wheel injuxtaposition, of a driving member above the table, a device pendent anddriven from said driving member, said device having pivoted dependingwork-gripping elements adapted by contact with the table to be expandedto internally grip a work-piece when lowered and to release saidwork-piece when raised, and a handle on the device adapted to bemanipulated for bringing said elements into and out of work-grippingposition and for moving such work-piece on the table into and out ofcontact with the grinding wheel.

6. The combination of a grinding wheel and a work-supporting table injuxtaposition, a power-driven device having gripping elements adapted bydownward movement in opposition to the table to internally grip androtate a work-piece resting thereon, and means for operating said devicefor feeding the work-piece to and from the grinding wheel.

7. The combination with a grinding wheel and a sustantially horizontalWork-table upon Which a ring is adapted to be directly supported,revolved, and moved into and out of peripheral contact With saidgrinding Wheel, of a rotary device having gripping elements movable intothe ring from above the table and adapted to be expanded by contacttherewith for internally gripping the ring supported thereon, and ahandle on said device whereby it may be directly manipulated for movingthe ring on the table with respect to said grinding Wheel.

8. A machine for removing the makeage from a piston ring, comprising agrinding Wheel, a table upon Which a piston ring is adapted to bedirectly supported, rotated, and slid While rotating into and out ofperipheral contact with said grinding Wheel, a device for internallygripping a piston ring on said table, power driven means for revolvingsaid device, and manually operable means for freely manipulating saiddevice to slide the revolving ring in any direction on said table forbringing the ring into operative relation to the grinding Wheel and forfeeding it into and out of peripheral contact therewith.

9. Means for the removal of make-age from a piston ring including incombination with means for supporting a ring in operative relation to agrinding Wheel, a vertical power-driven shaft equipped at its lower endwith a plurality of radially disposed eX- pansible arms adapted forinternally gripping a ring, and a handle carried on said shaft andadapted to be manipulated for moving the piston ring into and out ofperipheral contact With said grinding Wheel.

10. The combination of a ring-supporting table, a grinding Wheel, adriving shaft, a plurality of radial arms pivotally connected at theirinner ends With the driving shaft and adapted by pressure of their outerends against the table to be pressed into gripping engagement With theinner periphery of a ring positioned thereon, and means for moving thedriving shaft laterally to bring the ring into and out of peripheralcontact With the grinding Wheel.

11. The combination of a ring-supporting table, a grinding Wheel, adriving member above the table, a device driven and pendent from saidmember and constructed for movement vertically in Which to establishdriving connection With a ring and movable relatively to the grindingWheel for. bringing the revolving ring into and out of peripheralcontact With said ring.

12. The combination of a table to Which rings are adapted to be fed fromone side and discharged at the opposite, a grinding Wheel, a powerdriven device adapted to grip and release a ring by vertical movement,and manually operable means connected with said device for operating itto grip a ring at the entrance side of the table, move the ring intoperipheral contact With the grinding Wheel and then release the ring atthe dis charge side of the table.

GEORGE H. HIGGINS.

